There is little chance of a safe escape from lockdown restrictions unless NHS Test and Trace is picking up most of those infected with coronavirus, and those who have come into contact with them.
How is it doing so far?
It is early days, but it looks as though only around one in nine of those with the illness are being reached.
Here are the numbers that imply too few infected people are being contacted.
According to government data, details of around 1,160 people per day were passed to the contact tracers, of whom only 770 were actually contacted. That compares with between 1,500 and 2,000 people per day who tested positive. It is not at all clear why so few of those testing positive were reached.
But that is not the most disturbing data. More worrying is that there are around 4,500 new infections per day in the community according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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